Lena Weber is the founder and editor of The Vintage Guide to London-your one stop site for everything you need to know about the London vintage scene. She and Margaret Davidson of Penny Dreadful Vintage have teamed up to give tours of the Southbank area during the Vintage at Southbank festival- taking visitors back in time to 1951 and the original Festival of Britain.

RR: When did you first become interested in vintage?

LW: My parents are both passionate about 'old things', and their house is full of heirloom pieces and antique bits - through them I've grown up with an interest in past designs and vintage.

RR:WHat's your favourite era?

LW: I love Art Deco and late Thirties designs but my real passion is for the Sixties, sartorially and culturally I can't think of a more interesting decade. Sixties icons like Pattie Boyd or Francoise Hardy are my style muses.

RR: You cover a lot of vintage inspired events, venues and shops on your site, The Vintage Guide to London,what are your favourite?

LW:There are so many amazing vintage venues and shops in London that I genuinely don't have any favourites. I've recently moved to Finsbury Park and Cafe Vintage there- a vintage cafe-cum-shop - is a great place to hang out. Brick Lane is always worth a wander too - I particularly like 'The Shop', which sells the most amazing vintage fabrics and 'Hunky Dory Vintage' for their great range of Sixties dresses but as I said, my list of best shops would go on and on. Events-wise, I rarely go to club nights so I love the quirky evening workshops from paper plane making to learning how to do vintage hair and make-up held at Kings Cross's 'Drink Shop & Do'.

RR: Tell us about the walks you'll be giving for Vintage at Southbank Centre

LW: Margaret from Hampstead-based Penny Dreadful Vintage Boutique and I have teamed up to run twice daily tours about the original 1951 Festival of Britain, whose 60th anniversary is celebrated at the Southbank this year. The tours will give visitors some background information on why the Festival was held, what the Festival site would have looked like in 1951, and if the Festival delivered its promise to be 'a tonic to the nation'.

RR: Why do you think theres been such a surge in the popularity of vintage fashion and elements of the vintage lifestyle?

LW: I think that the interest in vintage comes and goes - vintage was already popular in the Sixties and Eighties, although it would have been 'second-hand' back then. I do feel that there is a general social shift at the moment in how people communicate and consume, they get their inspiration from fashion blogs and street style rather than just from fashion magazines so there is no longer just one trend or one look per season but a myriad of indivdual styles. Vintage, which is by its nature individual and authentic, reflects this need for self-expression.